People who work from home are less likely to get pay rises and promotions – especially men, a study suggests.
The first post-pandemic research project into the work from home phenomenon has found those who enjoy the luxury can expect to face career penalties.
A team from the University of Warsaw presented 937 managers employed in various businesses and industries within the UK with two profiles of hypothetical full-time staff members who worked either five days at the office a week, five days at home, or three days at the office and two at home.
The managers then chose which one they were likely to promote, and also which one they would give a pay rise to.
Analysis revealed managers were 11 per cent less likely to give a promotion to staff who worked entirely from home than to those who were completely office-based.
People who work from home are less likely to get pay rises and promotions – especially men – a study suggests (stock image)
Hybrid workers – those working partly in the office and partly at home – were on average seven per cent less likely to be promoted.
Managers were also nine per cent less likely to give a pay rise to staff working entirely from home than to those who were completely office-based, and seven per cent less likely to give one to hybrid workers.
The research also unearthed a gender gap – managers were 15 per cent less likely to promote men who worked entirely from home than those who were completely office-based, and 10 per cent less likely to give a pay increase.
The figures for women were seven per cent and eight per cent, respectively.
Author Agnieszka Kasperska told the British Sociological Association’s online annual conference: ‘The recent Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a substantial shift towards working from home.
The research also unearthed a gender gap – managers were 15 per cent less likely to promote men who worked entirely from home than those who were completely office-based, and 10 per cent less likely to give a pay increase. The figures for women were seven per cent and eight per cent, respectively (stock image)
‘However, our findings indicate that individuals working from home still encounter career penalties, irrespective of the widespread adoption of this mode of work.
‘Both male and female remote workers experience career penalties, but they are substantially larger for men.’
The results also showed that in organisations with very demanding work cultures, managers were around 30 per cent less likely to promote and 19 per cent less likely to give a pay rise to men who worked entirely from home than to men who worked solely in the office.
The figures for women were 15 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively. In organisations with more supportive environments, no penalty to staff for flexible working was found.
‘In more supportive organisations, so where there is less pressure and long working days and where family-friendly policies exist, we don’t find such negative consequences of remote work,’ Ms Kasperska added.
A separate study recently found that people consume significantly more calories and take fewer steps on days they work from home.
The study showed that people consume an average of 2,752 calories when working remotely, compared to 1,961 during a typical day in the office.
The research, carried out by MyFitnessPal, also found that while people walk 8,087 steps on average on days when they go into the office, this is nearly halved on a ‘work from home’ day.
